"It is probably safe to say it has been over 20 years since a Birmingham team won a state championship," said Carrel, who has coached this core group of players through the Squirt Major and Pee Wee Minor levels in the past. "I think the kids probably don't get the history behind it, but they certainly know how hard it is to win a state title.

"These kids have been playing a long time and they have never won anything like that. We have won three of the last four district tournaments, but we have never been able to win the state title. I would say the players were just so excited to reach that goal.

"There are a lot of teams throughout the state and this is an incredibly large accomplishment," he added. "I'm very proud of them."

The Rangers, a Bantam level (seventh- and eighth-graders) travel team, had a remarkable playoff run as they finished with a 12-1 combined record in district and regional tournament action.

The two-month state tournament journey began in mid-January with district action. The Rangers went undefeated in their eight district games, including a 3-0 shutout over the Plymouth-based Compuware squad in the district final played at the Birmingham Ice Arena.

Winning with a team effort

Carrel's squad then advanced to the seven-team state finals at the Detroit Skating Club, where things started slowly. The Rangers were shut out, 5-0, in their opening game by the host USA Eagles.

However, they rallied to win their next two pool-play games — 6-0 over Grand Rapids Fox Motors and 3-2 over Saginaw — to qualify for the four-team final round.

The Rangers defeated Traverse City in the semifinal, 3-2. Birmingham then skated past the Michigan Ice Hawks, 4-1, to claim the historic Tier II championship.

"During the season, you have your ups and downs. That's kind of natural," Carrel said. "But at the beginning of the season, when we laid out our goal, that's when all the players said we'd like to win the state championship. That certainly was a goal of ours.

"We knew we had a really group of kids who really got along and we didn't have a lot of issues," he added. "It was a good group who came together. As one parent said, 'It was like a family.'"

Birmingham's top offensive players in the state finals were forwards Ashton Trombley (seven goals, four assists) and Ben Pouliot (five goals, six assists). R.J. Carrel, a 13-year-old Covington Middle School student who will be attending Groves High School, contributed eight assists.

The Rangers had a strong group of defenders, led by Andrew Jacques and Dylan Magdich. The team's two goalies were Kameron Ragon and Trevor Hill.

"Everyone was a huge contributor to this championship," said Carrel, who lives in Birmingham. "The one thing about our team this year is that we had 16 shutouts. Those are pretty good numbers. We're a very fast team which focuses on puck possession.

"We're not going to go out there and outhit other teams. That's not how we are," he added. "But we're going to possess the puck, make plays and outwork everyone. That's our goal and we have a great group of players."

The Rangers also skated to second place during the regular season in the Little Caesars Travel League's Yzerman Division with a 10-2-1 record. They started out their season in late July with an overnight training camp at Adrian College and ended it March 11 with the state championship in Bloomfield Hills.

"They put in the extra work this year to get done what they needed to get done," Carrel said. "I was very excited for them."

Contact Marty Budner at mbudner@hometownlife.com; Follow him on Twitter: @MartyBudner.